My Hero Academia has celebrated the final volume of its manga releasing in Japan with a special new crossover with Marvel, and it has unfortunately come under fire with fans over the choice for Mirko’s skin color. My Hero Academia might have officially ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine earlier this Summer, but the final volume of the series is now hitting shelves in Japan. As a way of commemorating the occasion, series creator Kohei Horikoshi had participated in an official art swap with Marvel artists Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado in which Spider-Man’s universe joined the world of My Hero Academia.
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This crossover saw Horikoshi debuting his official take on Spider-Man together with All Might and Deku, and Ramos and Delgado’s piece saw Black Cat escaping from many of My Hero Academia‘s heroines. But while the crossover has been generally well received for its concept, it’s been a much different response when it comes to the Rabbit Hero Mirko. The pro hero is depicted in the original series with having a darker skin tone, but it’s not exactly the tone seen in the version of the hero in the new Marvel crossover art as pointed out by fans like @TheMightyZ2 , @Foreverheroics, @LastCallAtomicA on X and more.
Mirko’s Change in Skin Color
This discrepancy comes with a strange asterisk on top of its official release as well as colorist Edgar Delgado shared a more faithful version of Mirko to their own social media account to celebrate the official release of the art. The more faithful version with Mirko’s darker skin tone is also the one being officially on display on Marvel’s official website. But the one shared through Marvel Comics’ X page is the one featuring the lighter version of Mirko. This has caused a rift in what was otherwise a fun crossover between Shueisha and Marvel’s worlds.
It’s caused such a mixed reaction as the social media facing version of the art might have been the incorrect version shared when compared to Delgado and Marvel’s full release of the My Hero Academia and Marvel art. There was a mixup somewhere within the pipeline heading into the release of the special crossover, and now it’s led to an unfortunate debate surrounding Mirko that has some unfortunate parallels to the iteration of the character seen in action in My Hero Academia‘s anime as well. You can see the comparison in full below.
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Mirko Has Had This Trouble With My Hero Academia Before
The clashing over My Hero Academia’s presentation of Mirko has unfortunately been a cause of concern in the anime’s past as well. With series creator Kohei Horikoshi depicting the pro hero with much darker skin in official sketches and art shared with fans in the manga’s releases, Mirko once more had a lighter skin tone when she finally made her debut in the anime back in Season 5. It was a point of concern when she first popped up, and still continues to be one.
While this situation with the Marvel crossover is likely just a hiccup somewhere in its release, it’s another reflection of the kinds of troubles that Mirko has had in My Hero Academia for being a character depicted with darker skin overall. As the hero takes more of the center stage of the action in the anime’s final episodes, it’s also going to be a point of interest that fans will be keeping a close eye on as it all comes to an end.
